Decadence
by Ayngel
Summary: Mirage and Moonracer negotiate their way through a turbulent and quirky upbringing in the Towers - the once ruling class stronghold of Cybertron now characterised by decadence, disintegrating families and social decline
1. Prologue

Title: **Decadence**  
Category: Cartoons » Transformers/Beast Wars  
Author: Ayngel  
Language: English, Rating: Rated: M  
Genre: Drama/Family  
Published: 06-11-09, Updated: 06-14-09  
Chapters: 3, Words: 18,739

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**== DECADENCE ==**

**By Ayngel**

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_Disclaimer: Whilst this concept of the nature of Cybertron is my creation, I do not own the name, or any of the original ideas associated with it. Nor do I own any characters from Transformers, or any places or scenes. All these belongs to Hasbro and I make no money from this work._

_Warnings: none in this chapter. Later story contains adult themes, domestic violence and drug use._

Forward:

I first wrote this story quite a while back now, as part of a larger work called "Awakenings" which it is still intended to make an appearance on here at some stage and is one of the prequels to _Forbidden Fantasies. _This section of it sort of ran away a bit at the time, and somehow Moonracer found her way in. But I've left her in it. She's really very important to the continuity.

I am conscious of the fact that the Mirage/history/Towers etc theme has been tackled a few times now, and done well, so I felt a need to make sure that any of my forays into early Cybertron from the Mirage angle were extremely different. I think you'll find this portrayal of the Towers as a corrupt and declining anachronism amidst a failing Cybertron democracy before the war is just that. I like to think of it as the Towers- as- never- seen- before.

One little warnings – for those who like Transformers to be absolute robot, and nothing but robot then this does definitely veer towards the humanizing end of the spectrum. If you like political intrigue and Earth analogies combined with a twinge of cynicism and a little fantasy, you will probably enjoy it.

Thanks for reading, anyway :-)

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**Prologue**

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**From "Data retrieval and recall: my early life and times" by Mirage D'Ligier; an excerpt from "on the nature of Iacon Towers, and other places"**

..... I should start with dispelling some misunderstandings about Cybertron.

It is often depicted by humans as such a tiny world whereas, in fact, it, is, by Earth standards, enormous. It orbits the bright sun of Toliman and its smaller companion sun, Hadar – or the Alpha Centauri suns - as you call them. Once a rugged orb composed of naturally occurring rocks with a high metallic content, of mountains and lakes and rivers and covered in entirety by thick swirling clouds of gas, it never had any life of its own. Yet, over millennia, it was settled and colonised by our race who were from elsewhere among the stars, and they tamed it and reduced the great gas clouds to a thin, pinkish atmosphere, and built great structures on the surface and within the core and above in the skies.

Eventually, over millenia, much of the surface was transformed into a succession of cities and suburbs, spaceports and transport depots, mines, factories and manufacturing plants, so that by the time of the war, with the population at some three hundred billion, many parts of the land bore no resemblance to their original state. But in the less tameable regions - the mountain ranges and the great rock plains of the equatorial provinces and the polar chasms – locations too remote and weak in resources to develop to any intensity – the natural bronze coloured rock still made up a landscape free of Cybertronian added adornments; as did the vast oceans to the North and South, apart from some of their more hospitable islands.

For millions of years, Cybertron had a social system known as the Utopian Order. It's Cybernetic beings were divided into castes and subcastes, all with a designated place and purpose and all with a unique role. It was a stable, ordered regime, at the top of which were the Alpha castes, superior in construction and programming and rewarded with much of the planet's wealth for the important role they performed in making the rules and ensuring the planet ran smoothly, and that all mechanisms operated according to their rightful designation. The Alpha caste lived in separate, insular communities and had their own culture and ways, the presence of lesser castes coexisting there only to serve their unique interests and idiosyncratic tastes. These communities were scattered across Cybertron, near the great cities and provinces over which they presided. But the Towers – where I came from - close to the great city of Iacon on the shores of the Southern ocean, was by far the most important.

It is hard to describe Iacon in Earth terms. It was vast! With all its suburbs, it must have been a tenth the size of Earth! Colossal old structures - great domes and orbs of bronze and gold -made up the central part, but there were newer buildings too, graceful square and cylindrical towers of white stone and silver metal and glass, some several Earth miles high. Everything was connected by layers of walkways and rollways and flyways. East, the buildings sprawled into the distance, subtly transforming into residential suburbs whilst to the West, the Iron Mountains rose up, curving away in an arc to the North.

Just behind the city was a sheer scarp of golden coloured rock, about a mile high, damming the river as it flowed out of the mountains, and turning what had once had been a great valley into a vast lake, dotted with interlocking islands. Water flowed always through the lake and cascaded in gushing waterfalls over the scarp, into ornate ponds below and so into the canals which ran beneath Iacon and out to the southern ocean. Throughout the Lake rose tall, arched buildings topped by majestic spires which glowed different colours in the varied lights of day from the precious metals and stones from which they were made. Connecting the islands were ornate bridges under which many vessels passed through the soft lilac waters.

Close to the where the waters of the Lake cascaded over the scarp edger rose three spires, at equal distance from each other, upon which were inscribed a sun, a moon and a star. They gave the Towers district its name, by day, a beautiful place: civilised, tranquil and tasteful. By night – a magical realm of glittering colours as the light sparkled from billions of crystals embedded in the buildings, grown in the gardens and beneath the surface of the lake.

A fitting place indeed for those who made rules for all of Cybertron, and especially for the _M__echans des Luminieres,_ the clan which ruled the Alphas and from which the _Ultra Uno_ himself was ordained to ultimately reign supreme over every living mechanism on Cybertron.

Beautiful and majestic it was. But times changed - as they do always in the Universe - and old ways gave way to new. By the time I was a sparkling, the caste system had been abolished, and the Utopian Order was long dismantled. The Government ruled so called Democratic Equilibrium had existed for about a million sun circuits and the founders of the new world of supposed equality, shared resources and free trade - those heroes from Kaon, the brothers Prime and Megatron – were in the seat of Government in Iacon where they headed a supposedly representative ruling forum.

Alphas no longer were the pinnacle of Cybertronian existence. They did not make decisions for the planet any more - and yet, their communities remained. The _Luminiere Uno's_ descendant still lived in the Towers, even though he had been reduced to a figurehead, a quaint anachronism and reminder of what had been. The prominent Families still lived in their ancestral homes and to an extent the hierachy which had always been among them continued to prevail. But a state of some confusion reigned. Alphas were torn between clinging to the past or, in many instances, redefining power bases through a new medium of corporate wealth and highly paid professions. It meant competition, and a jostling for supremacy. And so it was that the harmonious coexistence once reigning among Alphas was replaced with corruption and social decay.

The Alpha communities were not alone. In fact, the whole of Cybertron struggled to cope with an order steeped in idealism but beset by impracticalities. The world which I entered as a sparkling was to be not without turmoil; for as the Equilibrium gradually failed to achieve it's aim, crippled by scarce resources and the demands of a surge of immigrants from the outer worlds, the government floundered, together with the system it stood for; and, as it did so, there was misery and outrage, and the disenfranchised took desperate measures, and anger flared in dark and dangerous places.

But I did not know all this as my sister and I made our way happily and innocently around the halls of our ancestral home of Celestine Heights, or played in the crystal gardens, or looked across the waters of Lake Iyili to the glittering lights of Iacon.

I did not know that the great divide which would lead to war had already appeared and the fate of Cybertron had already been ordained.


	2. Chapter 1

Here we go with the first part of Mirage and Moonracer's quirky, dysfunctional upbringing. "Moon" - that's Moonracer. She later changes her name.

And, yes, they are brother and sister in all of my stories.

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_Whilst this concept of the nature of Cybertron is my creation, I do not own the name, or any of the original ideas associated with it. Nor do I own any characters from Transformers, or any places or scenes. All these belong to Hasbro, IDW etc and I make no money from this work._

_Warnings: some adult themes, I guess. Sex, and domestic violence. Some coarse language._

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**DECADENCE**

**By Ayngel**

**Chapter 1**

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**From "Data retrieval and recall: my early life and times" by Mirage D'Ligier; an excerpt from "Celestine Heights"**

Even though I lived in many places over my long aeons, I always thought of Celestine as home. It was special to me. Had it not been, I would not have fought so hard to save it. Had it not been, things could have turned out very differently from the way in which they did .....

Celestine is as good a place to start as any. It was an ancestral home of the D'Luminiere family, of which I was one half. I should explain that Alpha castes were bilateral creations, and not enhanced clones or unilateral productions as were many lower caste mechs. The Utopian designers had long ago concluded that combined programming from two mechanisms gave rise to a superior protoform, and so this was the only way allowed. The creators also had to be male and female, so whereas in other castes two from the same gender would engage a femme to incubate the developing program – the result of their copulation – before it was transferred to protoform status, this was forbidden among Alphas. The femme - incubator was always one of the creators. And Whilst many of the Alpha protocols may no longer have been operational, this one was adhered to with religious fervour.

Hence in human terms it could be said that I had a "mother" and a "father." But I have no wish to overidentify with humans. I will refer to them by their correct Cybertronian terminology as mech and femme creators.

My creators were very different. My femme creator's name was Chimera, a petite, sharp faced slight built mechanoid with an aristocratic although fragile look about her - although, being a D'Luminiere, she was a great deal tougher than she looked. Alphas may have declined, but the D'Luminieres were still powerful and had resisted change. They owned vast estates and ran pan – Cybertronian enterprises, renting out prestigious properties and engaging managers to run things whilst they raked in the credits and enjoyed an existence of idle pleasure. They said that to be seen leading a life of luxury whilst others did all the work demonstrated unquestionably the continuing superiority of the Alpha Caste. They also referred disdainfully to my mech creator - who Chimera had defied a pre-ordained bond to be with - as one of the "other types of Alpha."

His name was Swift D'Ligier. He did not come from the Towers, but from the Pinnacles, which was the equivalent suburb of Praxus, where he was a racer for a while - a champion, in fact – and then, later, a lawspeaker. He was handsomer than them - tall, lithe and quick in his movements, and also very fast in his racer alt mode. I am supposed to have looked like him, and I guess I do, although I adopted different colours. The D'Ligier family had also once been a large and cohesive unit also, but by then it was fragmented, the descendants having interbonded and replicated so that the original programming had diluted. Swift had probably about the most pure D'Ligier programming left in existence, and he commanded one of the highest salaries in Iacon. Nevertheless, this was not the same as being of the "superior cultural stock" which the D'Luminieres - and others like them - considered themselves to be.

Who could replicate with who was very ordered, you see, and bonds were generally arranged, not chosen and Chimera took a great risk and incurred their wrath by her choice. Later in life when I understood such things better, this emerged as something of a mystery, as it meant that they must have – well – _loved_ each other presumably at some stage – or at least _liked _each other - which was most peculiar because you see, in all the time that I was growing up with them they never showed a _smidgeon_ of any of that, or even any affection for each other, in fact, one could have been forgiven for having the impression that they couldn't stand each other. They seemed to be in a perpetual state of conflict, and there were many times as a sparkling when I was convinced that their fights could be heard down in Iacon, maybe even on the other side of Cybertron.

After their untimely deaths, I thought much about the cause of their eternal squabbles. I am sure a lot of it was the D'Luminieres. They never forgave Chimera, you see, or quit trying to persuade her to lead the sort of life they thought befitted her, and she had enough traditionalism programmed in to be influenced and to try and change him. But it was not to be. For whilst the D'Luminieres may have considered him inferior, Swift considered them a bunch of rich layabouts, and himself most superior - and that was a tension which never was resolved. In time he developed a hatred for the Towers, and he claimed Celestine was a ridiculously large property for a family the size of ours to maintain, and he wanted to move to Sky City, the new prestigious suburb in Iacon which the corporate elite were making their stronghold. He had a point – but it was anathema to Chimera, who hated such places, referring to them "holes they'd let the riff raff into." She refused to go.

Swift's response was to get an office apartment complex there anyway, and to spend a great deal of time in it. This infuriated Chimera, and when Swift reappeared at Celestine, there were bitter rows about practically everything: the amount of time he spent there; his lack of attention; his lack of contact; the pitiful supply of credits he provided. He would get angry and yell that she was selfish and over demanding and spent credits on useless things. She would scream that if he still lived at the Towers then she wouldn't be spending it and he would say he would rather be in the pits of Y'il Halco than living at Celestine Heights and she would scream at him to leave and then he would leave, and storm angrily out of Celestine and fire away across the lake in his jet boat. So it went on, and on, and on ....

Later, my sister said that as a young sparkling I got scared by their altercations, and that she would hold me in the dark and tell me everything was all right. She was bitter, and blamed them for the later problems between the two of us. I cannot say that I remember being frightened, or that I remember feeling anything about their behaviour at all. I do not believe this was to do with faulty recall systems. It was more that what transpired was completely normal, because I never knew them any other way. It was definitely more peaceful when Swift wasn't there, and we had more freedom because Chimera would take off into the Towers hub of Niacis - full of expensive shops and clinics and detailers - where she spent a lot of credits, and we were left to our own devices. But I never questioned the rightness of any of my creators' behaviour. It was just simply the way they were.

None of it was any great cause for concern anyway, for Moon and I always found many ways to divert our attention away from their altercations, and we were very close as sparklings. Celestine was fabulous, you see. It was a wonderland which had everything we could possibly require and we knew every single part of it. Every cove and beach we knew intimately; every corner of the gardens, every crystal and sculpture and statue in the courtyards. We knew every part of the house, all the rooms and chambers and corridors and conduits, and every conceivable way of getting up to the three high towers and other lofty reaches. It was our domain. We used to help each other out on to the narrow platform which surrounded the highest tower after dark and look out at the lights shimmering off the tall edifices reflecting in the water, at the boats as they went about their business and at the private shuttles and leisure flyers as they would their way between the islands and the buildings to alight on the many private landing pads. We would look out upon the lights of Iacon glinting and flashing in the distance and pretend that we were the D'Luminieres of the olden times and that between us we ruled all of Cybertron.

From an early time we did forbidden things in secret places. We collected crystals and grew new varieties in a hidden grotto near the beach, even though this was strictly against Altihex protocols and our creators could have been heavily fined, although nobody ever found out. There was a racing track which wound around the island, passing into tunnels and then emerging near the jetty, which Swift had installed in his days of fame at the Iacon Arena. It was another source of angst for our creators as Chimera claimed it had been a waste of credits, and the tunnels had not been maintained for years and were dangerous, and they were too expensive to fix. We were strictly forbidden to enter them - but we went there often, and Moon used to speak of her aspirations of becoming a racer when she came of age.

Our most ambitious endeavour of all was to breed turbomice in the tunnels and watch, fascinated as they connected up to each other and then spawned massive numbers of offspring. As their numbers expanded exponentially, it dawned on us, in our innocence, the inevitable fact that both of us must have sprung from Chimera or Swift in a similar sort of a way. This early replication education, of course, was only a partial analogy, of course, since turbomice multiplied at a considerably faster rate than mechanoids and did not need incubation chambers for the final stages of the incubation process. But it did raise another issue – the fact that Chimera and Swift must, presumably, have done something similar to bring us into the universe, and this was hard to imagine, given that they seemingly could not even stand to be in the same room as each other, let alone in the same sort of proximity obviously required to do something like that.

There were not supposed to be any mice in the Towers District, and this latter activity eventually gave rise to an infestation which was the talk of the neighbourhood and the subject of an expensive extermination project and law suit. Swift returned from Sky City in a less than amiable frame of mind, and we were summoned and duly castigated – although at that time Swift appeared to want little to do us, and when we were errant the main focus of his ire was always Chimera. Thus, after he had done with his brief lecture, Moonshine and I retired to the amethyst garden, to a secret little spot under the south window of the library, one we often made use of when we wanted to hear what they had to say as this was where they generally chose to have their altercations.

It was not the first time where one or both of us were the subject of one of their rows, as they differed as much in opinion on how we should be being brought up as they did on just about everything else. But this was decidedly more serious than anything previous, and Swift was decidedly angrier.

There was the sound of the cabinet where he kept his vintage premium grade opening, and the clink of glasses followed by a sound of pouring, as was always the case when our creator was about to launch into one of his tirades. His footsteps sounded heavily on the stone floor.

"I've never been so embarrassed in my life!" he roared. "And the cost! Have you any idea how many credits this has meant parting with? Those pest control agents from Auroco charge a fortune, and I had to abandon my clients at a moments notice in order to sort out this preposterous state of affairs - _and_ throw some more at the de Loriens to settle them down! I can't have this Chimera! I _won't have it_, I tell you! It's your fault? Those sparklings are out of control!"

"_My_ fault?" Chimera's voice snapped. "If you'd given me enough to engage a decent sparkling carer then none of this would have happened!"

"Well that's a bit difficult when no sparkling carers will stay in the job!" Swift's footsteps could be heard clanking across the stone floor. He was obviously pacing, as he always tended to do when he got like this.

"That's because they're all useless glitches! The only types available with the pittance you want to pay ..."

"Oh really? And I suppose that your impossible moods and the fact that they have to spend the entire time trying to locate their charges has nothing to do with it?"

Moon and I looked at each other and she smirked and put a hand over her mouth and I tried not to laugh as well. In earlier times there had been an attempt to engage a carer and a succession of well meaning young femmes from the suburbs of Iacon had been given the task. None of them had any luck with keeping us in line. Every single one had departed in sheer frustration, so that quite a while ago our creators had more or less given up on the idea.

Swift was barking again: "it can't go on, I'm telling you, Chimera! I've got enough of a problem with my credibility in this place without the two of them behaving like a couple of Kaon urchins. I mean, what is the matter with them? Don't they know how fortunate they are? I mean – you, who claim to be such a stickler for tradition. They would have been flogged for much less than this if I was a D'Luminiere or a De Ville - and when I think of what other youngsters have to abide. Why, do you know that a lot of those assimilate sparklings are stuck in underground orphanages?"

This comment evidently infruriated Chimera, who erupted: "What does that have to do with anything? Those wretches are in places like that because they have to be. Don't compare them to our sparklings, who are free as sparklings of the Alpha caste should be ..."

"Well it's time it came to an end!"

I looked at Moon, who was concentrating intensely. "What's a simmilate? I whispered.

"Ssssh! Shut up, Raji. This is important!" She was the only one in the whole of my life who ever called me that.

"It's time they had an education!" Swift's voice emanated from just above us. He had evidently paused by the window. "They should go to Newling College in Praxus. A fine institution. That's where I studied, you know. They take them there at their ages now, you know. It'll soon pull them into line."

"Are you out of your slagging mind?" Chimera shouted, and there was the sound of a glass being put down heavily and her footsteps near the window as well. Moon and I stole a glance at each other because when she started swearing, that usually meant it was getting serious. " It would be totally wrong for either of them. Especially Moon. I mean, whoever heard of a femme going somewhere like that? And Mirage is far too young. No, Swift! _They are not leaving the Towers_!"

"Damn it Chimera!" There was the sound as of something being banged down and Swift's footsteps crossing the room away from the window again. "Why can't you get it into your clogged processor that the days of sparklings hanging around and private tutors are gone!" More footsteps, and the cupboard opening again. More pouring noises.

"They have not! It's just that you don't want to damn well pay for it! Well you might have to. If Mirage has the _ability_ ..."

"_Oh Primus, not this again!" _Swift roared. The cupboard door shut with a bang. "How do I get through? There is not anyone _left_ on Cybertron with _the ability_. Abilities are dead! Programmed out! Damnit, I should know! I'm the one whose ancestors could do all that stuff." There was a pause and his voice dropped, and he added, sarcastically, "I know, of course, that this fact is a disappointment to you. After all, its what you hooked me in for ..."

Moonshine and I exchanged glances. "What is he talking about?" I whispered. She shrugged.

Chimera ignored the remark. Or maybe she didn't hear it. She was shouting again. I wondered if it was possible for them to actually have a conversation where they spoke in normal level voices. "It's out of the question, them going away! I mean – how could you, Swift! How could you want to separate me from my sparklings. Can you imagine what that would do to them? Selfish! That's what you are!"

There was a muffled noise which sounded as though Swift had just got something clogged in his intakes and the sound of something being placed on a table, and then of a chair being pulled out and somebody sitting down. "Spare me, please, Chimera! Since when did you devote your time to your sparklings? You've just said you wanted a sparkling carer ...."

"I spend lots of time with them! How would you know? You're not even here! I do lots of things with them...." her voice was near the window again.

Moon and I exchanged looks. It was hardly true. Occasionally we got taken to Niacis but that had not been for a while because on the last occasion we had taken off around the island and been brought back by the police. I could still remember the look on Chimera's face as the gleaming black and white officer had handed us back, face expressionless, red crest shining like a beacon, in front of an audience of curious Alpha femmes and their sparklings.

As if reading my thoughts, Swift said "Oh yes! I heard about Niacis! I believe you and your silly friends spent half a cycle running around the island looking for them..."

"That wasn't my fault! My makeover took longer than usual. _And don't you dare talk about my friends like that! _If Saphira and Aurora hadn't been there they might not have come back at all ..."

"Those glitches?" There was the scraping of the chair and then his footsteps again. It was another feature of their rows that if either of them ever sat down, it was never for very long. "Well if that's who you spend your time with, no wonder they're like they are. That's it! They're going to Newling ..."

There was a sudden crash to our left and the window above the beds there shattered and we both jumped. Shards of glass landed among the crystals, and a small statue went hurtling past us and smashed into a large amethyst cluster a short distance away. Then there was Chimera's voice saying "You take them out of the Towers and I'll make you sorry you were ever sparked Swift D'Ligier ..." and then Swift yelling "_that was a family heirloom you stupid femme_!" and then "No! Put that down ..."

Then there were bangs and the sound of something crashing on to the floor and what sounded like a scuffle and, above it all, Swift yelling: " ... Chimera .... stop...!" more scuffling, the sound of intakes hissing with exertion and the sound of Chimera saying through what sounded like gritted dental plates "I'll have you for every last credit Swift D'Ligier ..." and then a loud bang and Swift yelling _"Knock it off, will you ....."_

Then the scuffling stopped, and there was just the sound of hissing intakes and Swift saying "now take it easy. For Primus sake!" Then there was silence, followed by the sound of chairs being moved and one of them sitting down again, followed by footsteps and noise of the cupboard and the clink of cubes as more premium grade was evidently poured. Moon and I looked at each other. I glanced across at the broken statue which had come to rest under a particularly deep coloured amethyst cluster. It had been a scaled down raceroller. Now it was broken in two. "I liked that statue," I whispered to Moon. "Sshhhh!" she whispered.

"Look, Chimera!" It sounded as though Swift was making a great effort to control himself. "I am sick to the Spires of these arguments! Look - here's a suggestion .... what if we were to send Moonshine to Avilon .... _if _they'll have her after this ...."

Beside me I heard my sister gasp. I looked at her, curious. Her optics were wide, and she put a hand to her mouth. "What is it?" I hissed. She took the hand slowly away. I'll tell you later!" She still looked stricken.

There was a long silence - during which it sounded as though Swift sat down too - before Chimera said in a voice which seemed to have lost all of its previous aggression and was even bordering on pleasant: "Well, you do surprise me, Swift! Oh I think after this one incident there wouldn't be a problem. Mind you, if there were any more ..."

"Well!" he sounded defeated. "All the more reason for getting on and doing something about this now!"

There was another silence and then Chimera spoke. Her voice had hardened once more. It was amazing how it could change just like that. "But I thought you said before that was too expensive, and a waste of your hard earned credits. I suggested my family pay, but you said you wouldn't take their lousy charity ..."

"And I won't!' said Swift in a tone which sounded as though he would not keep his temper for long. "I've got a new client from Iacca Niara – there might be an opportunity for some – extras. Anything to keep those two from wrecking the place, not to mention our reputation. "Yes ...," he sounded resigned, now. "This is what we will do! And the sooner it happens the better!"

There was another silence. Chimera said, more quietly , "Well what about Mirage?"

"Look," he said "let's get the femme sorted out first. Then we'll deal with the other one. But I suggest you keep him firmly in your sight. In Niacis, or wherever else it is you conduct your frivolities. Now, Chimera, surely to Primus you can manage to control him on his own..."

At that, Chimera fired up again "_Are you trying to tell me I can't manage my own sparkling_?"

"No!" Swift cut in quickly. "No ... of course you can ...."

There was silence for a few moments, and then the clink of a cube being put down and of a chair being moved and then of Swift's footsteps crossing the room again. Then there was a long sigh from Swift's intakes and he said "Anyway, right now, I'm out of here. I've got an appointment in twelve thousand astroseconds ..."

"Swift, wait, do you have to go?" It was most curious that if even when these altercations involved a rain of curses and flying objects then she usually wanted him to stay. But, as usual, he didn't. There was the sound of footsteps leaving the room and then the entrance door to Celestine Heights was flung open and we cowered behind a couple of the larger amethysts as our creator strode past us and away down the entranceway, past the walled gardens and towards the boat ramp.

I felt weary. The white sun had risen high in the sky whilst we were engaged in our parental surveillance and the crystal beds were warm to the touch. In the distance, could be heard the sound of clippers as Wheeler, who maintained the gardens, trimmed the beds at the other end of the garden. In the distance were the sounds of the lake as business continued as usual around the Towers, and in the air was the ever present sweet aroma of tailings smoke.

As far as I was concerned, it had all been fairly routine. "Oh well, that's that then!" I muttered. I thought it was very pleasant in the beds there and that I could easily just drift offline. From the direction of the jetty there came the sound of a jet boat powering up and moving away from the island. "What do you want to do now, Moon? We could go down to the jetty and look for crab-bots ..." but then I noticed that she was looking at me with optics wide in alarm and that she was actually trembling.

"Did you not hear a word Raji? This is serious! They're going to send me to Avilon! This is the end of our days on the island"

I looked at her without understanding. What did she mean "_the end of our days on the island_?" That was what we did. Rule the island. It was what we had always done and what we were always going to do, for the rest of our lives. "What?" I said with a note of humour in my vocaliser, as I thought that surely this must be a joke.

But there was a note of desperation in her voice. "Raji, you have to understand! I've been _dreading_ something like this! They've talked about Avilon before, but I didn't think they'd actually do it. It's a terrible place. You learn all this stuff about behaving properly in the Towers, as an Alpha femme should, so that when you come of age you can snag a well to do Towers mech and make sparklings and live a life like those older femmes do. Like – like Chimera! Uurgh!" She shuddered.

I was confused. From what I could see, Chimera had a fairly good life at Celestine, apart from the fights with Swift. It was true that she didn't _do_ much except wander around the island herself and arrange crystals and furniture and spend money at Niacis, and make com calls to other femmes. But that seemed all right. I said "Well that isn't so bad is it?"

"You call looking pretty and twittering about at some stupid cafe in Niacis with femmes like – the D'Luminiere sisters, having to put up with Swift and his temper – when he feels like turning up here - just because he's your bond mate and you need his credits _not so bad_? Really, Raji! You are so _dense _sometimes. Have you observed nothing in the last few vorns?" and casting me a look of sheer exasperation, she rose and began to make her way out of the amethyst garden and across to the gate which led down to the jetty path.

Now I was really mystified, and I stumbled after her. "Stop, Moon wait...," catching up to her I said "I don't understand. What's wrong with all that? Isn't that what femmes _do_?"

She stopped and turned to me fiercely. "It's' what _Towers _femmes do Raji! Not all femmes . Why, I'd rather be terminated than do that stupid stuff! Do you know what they teach you at Avilon? How to do everything _just right_. They stick a brace up your back so that you walk _just right_. And you have to spend days just coming down stairs and greeting mechs and femmes and showing them into rooms and pouring energon until you do that _just right_. Then they make you decorate rooms and arrange crystals and hang lights until you can do all that _just right._ And you know what happens if you don't do it just right? They take you away and program you so that you do!"

I had never seen my sister look so distressed. This was a side of her, I realised, that I had never really known at all up until now. She turned away and continued walking down to the jetty, her back an expression of indignant fury.

I caught up with her again. She went on:" ... the only femmes there are ones that really get off on all that stuff – idiots with empty processors – and the only mechs they let you mix with are stuck up little pieces of pit like Blaize Rolls - Pitt or freaks like Blur De Lorien or the D'Luminiere triplets. And then before you know it they've arranged a bond and you're supposed to _interface _with them – like the mice do- and make sparklings. Then you have to do all that dreadful other stuff and bring up the sparklings as well! Can you imagine it!"

We had reached the jetty and now Moon came to an abrupt halt and stood looking out at the boats puttering across the water. I came up beside her. The white sun had crept behind Celestine Towers and their reflection wavered in their shadow as it fell over the lilac waters in front of us. The sweet scent of tailings filled the air. When I thought of my sister grubbing around in the caves with the turbomice or making channels in the black silt down at the jetty then I had to admit that I couldn't really imagine her doing that sort of stuff. But then she was a Towers femme and if that was what they were meant to do then I supposed she would have to get used to it. Presumably Chimera had got used to it at some time.

I said, as proudly as I could manage "we are Alpha castes, Moon! And some sacrifices have to be made!"

"You're just saying that because you heard Chimera say it!" she looked quite cross with me now. "We're not bound by the stupid caste system any more, Raji! That stuff at Avilon – it's way out of date. We can do anything! Why, we can go and work in Iacon, or Tarn, or Iacca Niara or the South Islands, or we can travel Cybertron and visit the outer worlds. Or we can be sports people of artists. That's what I want to do – become a racer like Swift once was. And I want to go to the dance school in Praxus! I know it's still a way off for you but you ought to be thinking about these things too. Primus knows, you don't want to end up a boring old idiot like Phantasm De Luminiere or, Primus forbid, stuck in an office in Sky City like Swift, do you?"

My logic circuits reeled with all this new information. Never had I thought about any of this before. I was realising for the first time that I'd always been so happy in our own little world on the Island that I had never really considered what was going to come after that and I'd presumed it would all just fall into place. Whatever it was. I looked up and across the water. A small flyer was winging its way under the bridge and away towards the West Gate and now I wondered where it was going. Moon was right – there was a whole other world out there. The trouble was, I'd never even acknowledged it existed.

"Raji you have to help me" Moon suddenly grabbed hold of my arm and I turned to her, and her blue optics were wide. She looked a little like she always had when she was thinking up one of our schemes, although in those days it was without the desperation which was there now. This was better, though, I thought. At least it was some semblance of the old Moon. "I need to stay on the island here for a bit longer until I am nearly of age so that I can plan my life out," she said. "I simply cannot go to Avilon. You have to help me to do something which will prove beyond all doubt that I am not the sort of femme they would want at Avilon!"

A sense of mischief and challenge arose within me then, as it had with all the secret enterprises which Moon and I had embarked upon over the vorns. This was like old times! But it was more than that. I realised with a sudden desperation that I wanted to help my sister. _Had _to help her. After all, Moonlight had to stay around. She had always been there, always been my companion and the one who made everything all right when things went wrong. The thought of her not being there was inconceivable, and right then I would have willingly undertaken to play a part in anything if it would stop her from leaving me at Celestine alone.

"What are you going to do?" I asked.

"Listen carefully'" she whispered. "I have a plan"

......

The first part of the scheme involved an old crystal sculptor called Glow who used to visit us. He specialised in drilling explosive substances into crystals so as to cause fractures. Although this was hailed as an exquisite art form in the Towers, I never could discern much other than the ruination of perfectly good crystals, but Chimera enthused about his work and there were examples of it all over Celestine and it seemed to be a mark of great esteem that he actually churned out these works on the island and not in Iacon. He knew a lot about crystals we had struck up a sort of a friendship with him and he had, in fact, helped a lot with the crystal collection in the grotto, although he had no idea that was where most of his kind advice had been directed.

Now, Glow was delighted to see that Moonracer and I had developed a keen interest in his work, and were eager to learn the art; and it was an easy task to persuade him to part with quantities of the main tool of his trade and to show us how to set up the explosions, on the premise that we were practising under Chimera's supervision. It was extremely fortunate that he never asked to see examples of this new talent – he was somewhat absent minded and that was to our great advantage – because there were no examples. Instead, we stored up a supply of the explosives. A supply big enough, it was intended, to cause a real explosion.

The second part of the plan involved the old racing track, and the tunnels with which we had become so intimately acquainted. We knew the exact whereabouts of each part under the house, and so the precise placing of the substance prior to its ignition ought to guarantee a particular result in a particular place. As it was, the target was this rather hideous fountain which Swift and Chimera had complained about for vorns – something they actually agreed on - and the destruction of which would achieve our objective without causing a too large scale a ruckus as had happened with the turbomice. Moon also figured - if worst came to worst – it would be seen as doing them a favour.

I would make it out to be all her doing. And there was no doubt that such un femme-like act when coupled with the turbomice incident would bar Moonlight forever from entry to the gracious corridors of Avalon.

....

We really did not mean to blow up the entire south courtyard.

But the one thing Glow never told us – because obviously he didn't consider there to be any need – was how much stronger the substance was outside of the confines of the crystals. As it was, the resulting explosion was heard all over the Towers and afterwards a large cloud of smoke rose and blossomed out and hung there for ages, all to see, so once again we were the subject of gossip and innuendo throughout Iacon. Glow never did another sculpture at Celestine.

Swift returned from Iacon in a furious temper, and this time he had every intention of venting his fury fully upon us in a manner which was, frankly, for the first time, frightening.

"Have you any idea how serious it is, what you have just done?" he roared. " You could easily have terminated yourselves."

He was right there. It was sheer luck that we had decided to go down to the jetty until after it was all over.

"And once again you've brought shame upon the family. Have you any idea how difficult this sort of thing makes life for Chimera and I?'

We hung our heads dutifully. Yet I knew that, nervous though we may be, both of us were thinking the same thing. That if we could get through this then none of it really mattered, because we had triumphed. Moonshine wouldn't be going to Avilon.

"Well one thing is clear, Moonshine. You lack the intelligence to ever be anything other than one of those silly fools that frolics about in Niacis. You might as well start thinking about bonding with a D'Luminiere or a De Lorien or a de Ville. Because that is clearly just about all you are good for. I never thought I'd hear myself say it, but I actually believe you need to go to Avilon to straighten out whatever crazed programs are running around in your circuits. You'd better just be thankful you're a D'Luminiere and that that alone seems to guarantee you a passageway there, no matter what else! By thunder! To think I was contemplating sending you two somewhere like Newling ..."

It was as though everything froze inside me, and I sensed my sister stiffen. This was a catastrophe. Then Moonlight raised her head slowly and stared straight at him. "I'm not going to Avilon!" she said steadily, her optics upon his, and at that moment I truly admired her, more than I ever had at any time in my before.

Swift's optics flared and he strode over to us with such force that I took a step backwards and I was conscious of Moon letting out a shudder. He bent down and cupped her chin in his hand "Oh you will go my young femmelette!" he rasped. "You will go, and you will make an effort, and you will make something of it and if you do not then I promise you that you will be so sorry that you will never even think of defying me again!" He pushed her roughly away.

"And as for you ...." he turned his optics upon me "... you're lucky I haven't flogged you the way some of those bondmates of Chimera's cronies would have done. Oh yes, Mirage, it's about time you realised how lucky you are to have a modernist like me for a creator or you would have sampled some of the traditional Towers discipline long before this." I felt a cold chill run all along my circuitry with the conviction that what he was saying was absolutely true. "You will do exactly as Chimera tells you until we decide what to do with you".

He rose, walked a short way away and turned to face us. "_Do I make myself clear_?" We both nodded, and I felt my optics suddenly burn fiercely and I hung my head again to avoid the shame of him noticing.

...

So it was that far from achieving the result hoped for, the episode achieved the exact opposite.

The first time that Moon boarded the ferry which went around the islands to take the young femmes to Avilon, Chimera and I went down to the jetty to say good bye. My sister wore an expression of sullen and silent fury, and she and Chimera said not one word to each other; in fact she would not even look at Chimera. I felt my optics burning again and my sister looked at me and a sad but determined expression came on to her face; before she went to get aboard she leaned across and gave me a little kiss on the cheek and whispered "don't worry, Raji. I'm not beat yet!" and then she gave me a little smile and I smiled back in what felt like a watery sort of way, and then she was gone.

At that moment, I caught sight of about half a dozen other femmes all peering out of the windows of the ferry and giggling between themselves, their expressions a combination of snootiness and an intrigue which, it was obvious, could not be helped. At that moment, I disliked them intensely and determined I would never have any of them as a bond mate, and I disliked my creators even more, and I pitied my sister. With as great an expression of complete indifference as I felt could muster, I turned from the jetty and stalked past Chimera without saying a word, back up the path that led through the gardens to the house, up the stairs and to the viewing platform around the highest tower and there I remained for the remainder of that cycle, staring at Iacon and at the lofty region which was Sky City in particular and hating the whole universe and especially Swift D'Ligier.


	3. Chapter 2

Thank you all those who said nice things about Chapter 1. I'm glad you appreciate something a little out of the ordinary!

Quite a long chapter here. Just one thing to note – Megatron was called Mourg'hal in these days and that is how he is referred to here.

Brace yourselves for the dreaded Towers femmes ....

_Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers or any of the characters or concepts within. I make no money from this story or any other about Transformers._

**Chapter 2. ****A Time of Revelations**

**From: Data Retrieval and Recall: my early life and times, by Mirage D'Ligier. **

Despite what Swift had said, I had hoped that I would be left to my own devices around the island once my sister was ensconced in Avilon; after all, Chimera rarely took up his suggestions and I was certain that keeping me with her would prove an impossibly onerous task. But Chimera was still smarting over the Courtyard incident, and she soon made it clear that she had every intention of doing exactly as he had suggested. So, to my horror, I found myself trawling around Niacis on shopping expeditions, sitting in makeover studios and detailers and circuitry massage parlours and listening to the inane conversations of Chimera and her friends as they went about the rigorous business of being the sorts of Towers femmes my sister so did not want to become.

In particular, they spent long breems at the _Gemstone_, their favourite energon bar near the quay. They had a special table nearest the water, from where the boats could be seen as they puttered gently in and out of the key and from which music tinkled delicately in the background. There, they would sip cocktails whilst superior tailings were loaded into the aromatic urns and smart black and white attendants zoomed around waiting on them hand and foot and paying them silly compliments which I was certain they didn't mean.

During these ordeals, I longed to take off around Niacis, which now seemed to offer incredibly exciting opportunities after so long with little experience other than Celestine Island. But one look at Chimera's face told me exactly what would happen if I attempted such a thing. I was forced therefore, to sit at a separate table and sip quietly on a sweet energon snack and read the same data comics again and again whilst my audials were assaulted by an endless prattle of mindless events and trivia. It really was one of the most appalling times in my entire existence.

Usually, the same two femmes turned up, Aurora and Saphira, the bondmates of two of the younger D'Luminiere brothers, Opaque and Dazzle. They were sisters, and had the beautiful aquiline features for which the De Ville family were renowned; elegant, long legged femmes who would have been quite attractive - even to me as a sparkling - had they not insisted upon garbing themselves in the most ghastly shades of pink and purple and festooning themselves with a host of tasteless adornments, and had they not smelled as though they'd just immersed themselves in an aromatic tailings urn. These two, I soon realised, were exactly the types to which my sister had referred. They wore smug, self satisfied expressions and they made constant reference to their bondmates and their achievements:

"Dazzle struck another deal in Tarn. It means another two million credits a quarter!" Saphira had her slender, violet and white back to me. It was drawn up straight; there was no mistaking the pride inherent in it. She gleamed in the bright Cybertronian sun light.

"Sweet-spark that's _marvellous_!" across the table from her, in my full view, Aurora lounged back. Darker faced than her sister, she wore a pair of violet optic shades, and her lips were perfectly shaped in frosted pink. "Opaque just bought shares in the Y'il Halco silennium mine. I'm getting the entire east tower refurbished in platinum inlays ..." Something huge and star shaped sparkled against her pink chest. I saw her look sideways, her face a picture of immense self satisfaction, and steal a glance at Chimera, who sat between them on her left. Chimera smiled faintly and made a noise of approval.

"Oh that will look absolutely _superb_!" exclaimed Saphira. You'll have to come and see our own inlays in the inner courtyard ..."

"Love to, darling, love to! And did I tell you we're buying a place in the Sea Wind Islands? A beautiful spot! Well away from all the riff raff. You _both_ must come and stay ...."

There were appropriate murmurs of approval. I knew that such references were supposed to rub into Chimera the superior nature of their lives and connections and that Chimera struggled somewhat in keeping up. She was, after all, bonded to an inferior mechanism who didn't own places in the South Sea islands. In a strange way that infuriated me, and made me dislike them even more, even though I had no real time for either her or Swift right then. But Chimera was not to be outdone. She was, after all, a D'Luminiere by programming, whereas they were not. And she did have a few trump cards.

"We had that architect from Iacca Niara here the other day. You know – that one who's supposed to be the finest structural engineer on Cybertron as well. Scrapper, I think his name is"

The femmes sat up. Evidently this entity, whoever he may be, was of some repute.

"But darling?" drawled Aurora. I didn't think Swift made enough credits for a renovation of Celestine Heights!"

Over the rim of the data comic, I saw Chimera toss her head back and then take a sip of whatever she was drinking. Her latest makeover was a paint job of blue and white. Despite everything else, I liked it. It made her look even more petite than she already was, and emphasised her brilliant blue optics, and made her definitely better looking than them.

"Oh no, Aurora!" she said. "That's just it. You see, Scrapper reckons Celestine is of such a fine design and structure and built with such superior materials that it won't need any renovations for at least a thousand vorns." She went on "... then I had that estate agent – you know, that good looking friend of Swift's – Smoke something or other – do a valuation. Why, apparently Celestine is worth more than most of the De Lorien properties put together!"

There was a silence. I knew now from experience that this was to allow the time to compose a suitably acid response. Sure enough, Aurora said stiffly "well, that's marvellous of course, sweet spark, but I don't know about comparing the De Lorien properties. That's hardly a benchmark ..."

"Yes indeed," Saphira cut in: "and - well - I'd be a little careful, darling; you know .... I mean, when you _think_ about it ... whoever heard of a _constructicon_ becoming an architect? I know we're living in these times of .... this equal dogma, but there _are _limitations ..."

"Yes indeed!" Aurora agreed. "and you _know _my feelings on all _that_! Same goes for that agent. Oh, good looking indeed. But way out of his depth at the Towers. He doesn't have a clue what he is doing ..."

"Yes," said Saphira "you see – all these types coming in from elsewhere. Dazzle says they just don't know the way things operate up here like we do!"

There was a silence and they all took a sip of their drinks. From the quay came the ongoing sound of the boats putting and the water lapping, and, from behind the cafe, the sounds of Niacis. In the distance through the islands to the north of Lake Iyili, the Iron Mountains gleamed orange in the light of the yellow sun, which was overhead. Somewhere far overhead I could hear what sounded like an off world transport headed for one of the moons, no doubt from the space port in the eastern suburbs beneath which whose flight path the Towers was situated. All around there was general muted conversation, although not many tables were occupied. The music tinkled. I wondered for how much longer I could bear to endure this. I wished I was on the transport.

Saphira dropped her voice and leaned forward across the table. "Now, sisters," she whispered, do you want to hear something _really _shocking ...?"

The conversation had evidently moved on to the next invariable phase. The gossip time. I glanced at them again. Although this was usually comparably ghastly, it was, at least, generally a little more interesting than the rest. The femmes all moved their chairs closer to the table and leaned in. Aurora removed her shades and Saphira glanced around, as though she suspected some secret agent might be lurking near the table for the sole purpose of listening in.

I wondered why they always had to be so dramatic. Of the few others around, nobody seemed the slightest bit interested in them. Chimera shot a look in my direction which I knew was supposed to convey a stern message that this was not for my audials, so I pretended, once again, to be engrossed in the comic. It was so silly, though, I thought. They were sitting right there, and obviously I could hear every word they said.

Saphira shot another quick glance behind her. "I heard ..." - she whispered, leaning forward again – that the "F'erraris are adopting a Seeker!"

A gasp went up from the other two. Chimera clapped her hand over her mouth, "surely not ..." she whispered, while Aurora exclaimed: "It can't be!" a stricken look on her aquiline features. You would have thought, from the strength of the reaction, that some almighty stroke of doom was about to descend upon _The Gemstone_ there and then.

"Oh, shame!" exclaimed Aurora. "What a terrible day for the Towers!"

A young attendant appeared then with a tray. He glanced across at me and then flashed a smile at the three femmes. "Well, starlets, can I offer you any more drinks?"

The femmes all looked up. "Yes," said Aurora, somewhat snappily, I thought. "We'd better have three more. Make them doubles!" I looked at my own half empty cube and thought it would have been nice to be offered one as well, but evidently my presence had been all but forgotten in the wake of this monumental revelation.

The mech nodded and departed. They all leaned in again. Aurora took a large sip of her drink. "Where on _Cybertron_ are they getting the creature _from_?" she said and Chimera said: "not that orphanage ..."

"Oh no!" Saphira's voice had the smug air of one who knew something others didn't. Evidently this was a huge accomplishment. "Dazzle says it's not from the orphanage. Apparently, this one's straight from the Assimilation Centre. They say it was something special on Icthea. And now here on Cybertron it's going to be some sort of protégé ..." I thought of the conversation my sister and I had heard under the library window, and gathered that they were talking about the same thing.

"What nonsense!" exclaimed Aurora. "Those creatures – they are what they are. How can it have been "something special" when we know full well they were all just a bunch of savage organics ..."

"I agree!" Chimera added her contribution. "And the risk factor! We won't be safe in our berths, I tell you!"

The drinks appeared then, and there was a pause in the proceedings as the attendant set them down in front of each of them. They ignored him, the seriousness of the impending situation obviously putting undue strain on their ability to be polite. I noticed the attendant had another cube on the tray, which he brought over and put in front of me. He flashed a smile. He was dapper looking, clad in the customary black and white but with a visored face. I wondered whether the visor was there because it needed to be there or whether it there was because femmes like Aurora and Saphira seemed, for some inexplicable reason, to be impressed by young mechs working at the Towers in places like this wearing things like that.

"Wouldn't wanna see ya miss out!" the mech said cheerily. The accent was not of Iacon. I didn't recognise it.

"Thank you!" I said. The mech flashed another set of white dental plates at me and flitted away between the tables. The femmes, replenished, returned to the matter at hand.

Saphira was speaking again. "The Protectorate has high hopes for these creatures. Dazzle says that Mourg'hal knows there's no way this planet can sustain their numbers, so he intends using them to get more resources for the planet. He wants to put them in armies and send them out of the star system. Did you ever hear anything so ludicrous?"

There were snorts of outrage from the other two, and then Chimera said "well, the wretches caused this shortage on Cybertron. It seems only right that they rectify the situation ..."

"Pah!" said Aurora, "What a waste of credits and energy! There's nothing out there. To think that this Government levies all these taxes off our poor bondmates and they get put into a silly cause like that! A more sensible solution would be to take all the wretches back to Icthea in one go, dump them and leave them there to rot!"

I knew nothing, at that time, about Seekers. Nor was I particularly interested in their predicament being blissfully unaware, at that point in my life, of just how serious things on Cybertron were soon to become. But I can remember feeling some sympathy for them at that stage, if only because they were yet another set of beings who, it seemed, were being given no opportunity for redemption of any kind and the D'Luminiere sisters would happily see suffering at any expense. As to whether they were as awful as was being made out – well, frankly, I would have been prepared right then to give the Seekers the benefit of the doubt.

"Yes indeed," Saphira was saying. "Dazzle said something like that. He says then we could share things properly around to who should have them ... "

I wondered whether if Dazzle said that the Moon of Itopis was about to drop out of the sky and into Lake Iyili, Saphira would believe it, and report it.

Aurora's optics narrowed. "That Government!" she hissed. "Those brothers - Morg'hal and Optimal – you know, a curse upon them! They couldn't run an energon bar, let alone a whole planet!"

They all sipped their drinks and murmured agreement and Chimera said "Indeed. A sad thing for Cybertron, the Equilibrium ..." And they all nodded and took another sip. Invariably, somebody always made that statement at some stage in the proceedings. Aurora sighed. "It would never have happened in the day of my creators, Primus rest their poor sparks ..." which was an equally routine comment. Aurora replaced her shades. Saphira reached down and brought out a small mirror and a little lace cloth and I could see from her motions that she was dabbing at her optics.

Chimera sighed. "Well, I suppose we'll just have to wait and see how it unfolds. The F'erraris. You do have to feel just a_ little_ sorry for them though ..." She looked around her again and her optics lingered on me for a little longer. Then she turned back to the others "They can't make sparklings, you know!"

Aurora exclaimed "Yes I know, but darling! You would have thought there would be a better solution than _this_!"

"Yes!" agreed Saphira, snapping shut the mirror compact and putting it away. "Dazzle says they never even tried the Replication Assistance Clinic ..."

"Well that would be right!" Aurora snorted, finishing up her drink and putting the empty cube on the table. The violet shades flashed in the sunlight. I'll bet this is just some attention seeking scam. You know, this would be typical of the F'erraris. Always trying to make themselves more than what they are! Really, they're just another mob of blow ins from Praxus ...." Chimera shifted slightly at that statement, and her face twitched slightly, but she said nothing.

"... I think I shall be having a little word with Opaque about their investments in Voss," Aurora went on, "we wouldn't want them to become even more precarious than they already are, now would we?"

Saphira stifled a laugh "Oh good idea! I think Dazzle already had something similar in mind... " she, also, emptied her cube. "besides which - I do believe you're right. I mean - surely a better solution would have been not to have a sparkling at all. Sometimes ..." she paused and gave a little giggle "I really do believe they are more trouble than they're worth...."

Aurora looked across in my direction and then they all looked guiltily around. "Oops!" Saphira giggled. She turned back. "Oh my word Chimera! Darling it must be such a drag for you – having to bring _him _everywhere ... on the other hand ... he's so quiet, that one. You tend to forget he's even there!"

A slightly dark look came over Chimera then. She smiled at them and got up from the table. "Darlings it's been fabulous!" she exclaimed, leaning over and kissing each of them on the cheek. "But I must take my sparkling home. Same time next cycle?"

They gushed. "Of course, sweet spark – we always have such a wonderful time here - pity about the _news_ but – well, we've got a good police force up here – we just have to hope it will all be all right – safe travels now, darling!" They always said that, even though it took all of two breems to get back to Celestine Heights on the ferry.

"Mirage!" Chimera snapped. "Come now, we haven't got all cycle"

Nodding to the black and white attendant who waved cheerfully from the other side of the cafe, she walked briskly off in the direction of the jetty, her heels clicking on the carefully designed mosaic surface of the pathway, blue hips swaying elegantly. I rose and followed her without a word, making absolutely certain that I completely ignored the hideous femmes with their hideous adornments, even though I could feel their optics upon me. I hoped they were aware that I was ignoring them, and I hoped they thought me rude and bad mannered and not caring because, as far as I was concerned, they were revolting, and their condescending attitude was worthy of nothing but contempt, and bad manners were a very good way of showing that.

And above all I was thinking that I really didn't care what happened with Seekers or any of those other things they insisted were so dreadful. The main thing was that one day I was going to be better than they were, and that the D'Luminieres were not going to lord it over everybody else.

....................

The Courtyard incident was just a little further distant now, and Chimera relaxed her vigilance just a little. I no longer had to be subjected all the time to the appalling ordeal which was Niacis; sometimes she left me behind. When not in Niacis, she spent most of the time up in her wing of the house. I didn't know what for. It seemed to me that there was little to do up there – but then, as I have said before, Chimera didn't do much anyway. I knew that she took bottles of Premium Grade from the cellar up there and drank them, because Swift had berated her about it – as usual, it seemed to be the cost which bothered him the most. But as for what she did apart from drink the premium – I had no idea. So I presumed she was content, as I was, to look out of from the Star Tower across Iacon. It was of no concern, anyway. It meant I was once more free to do as I pleased around the Island.

I continued my activities on the Island. The crystal experiments were still flourishing in the tunnels, and I made a special effort to keep them going. I felt that I had to do so, to honour the memory of my sister and the gross sacrifice she had made. Besides, I missed her and it seemed like a way of keeping her in my thought processes. There were no more turbomice, but I now had a collection of crab bots. These were not as interesting as the mice in that they were unilateral replicators and just simply cloned themselves, and took a lot longer to do it; but they were entertaining in other ways. They creaked around awkwardly and if you put them on an obstacle course they slowly negotiated their way over the top of everything. I took to taking them into the tunnels and setting up races with them over such courses, and gave them names, and even took private bets to myself on who would win.

Only I knew how to get into the tunnels, so I was never disturbed there by any of the maintenance mechs or couriers who worked around the jetty and in the gardens. That was why it surprised me greatly on one occasion to sense the presence of somebody else in there. I stopped what I was doing, then. I had not forgotten the illegality of these tunnels, or what Swift had said about Alpha discipline. I listened intently, conscious at the time of an annoying itch in my left shoulder which sometimes seemed to manifest itself at times like this and not wanting to do anything about it in case I made a noise. But there was nothing except the vague muffled noises which could always be heard from the world above, and so I thought I must have been mistaken – after all, there was no logical reasoning behind this, it was just a feeling I had - and I turned back to my scrambling crab bots.

But then there came the unmistakable sound of footsteps on the rock floor, and then I did turn sharply around and peer into the dim light of the tunnel. Then my systems froze; for approaching through the gloom was a mech, and I could see well enough to see that it was not somebody I knew.

As he came within the glare of the energon globe which I had rigged on the tunnel wall, he slowed and I could see him quite clearly. He was of shades of red and greyish blue, and I could well make out the outline of his face, and I could see that he had a rugged look about him which was not un-handsome, and he looked to be only a little older than I; a beta caste, I surmised, although somewhat taller and slimmer than most betas – in my limited experience of them – generally were.

For one who had manifested in such a mysterious way, he seemed extraordinarily casual. "Well, hello there!" he said amiably, smiling as he approached. "Geez! I wasn't excecting to find anyone in here but – I reckon you must be Mirage D'Ligier!" His accent was that of Iacon. But not the main part of Iacon. It sounded like somewhere from the suburbs to the south although, again, I had only limited experience of such things.

I nodded from among the crab bots, staring foolishly up at him, still too surprised to know what to do or say. The globe cast a shadow of his form on the tunnel wall. The crab bots clacked and cracked in front of me.

He had now come to a standstill quite close, and he was regarding me with curiosity. He smiled again, an engaging smile, and I could make out a cheeky glint in his optics. "So you are a little looker, then!" he chuckled, "it's true what they say in Iacon!"

I didn't have the first idea what he was talking about. What was more, how dare he disturb the sanctity of my tunnels! And - _how had he gotten in here anyway?_

"Who on Cybertron are you?" I blurted out, standing up. I still felt shaken and frazzled, after all, I had half expected to see Swift appear out of the shadows, wielding some sort of punishment device.

He took a step forward, casting a glance at the floor and careful, I noted, to avoid the clacking crab bots. He held out his hand and as he did so his face broke into another warm smile. "Pleased to meet you! My name's Smokescreen – but everyone calls me Smokie..."

I shook his hand quickly and then pulled it away. I was not in the habit of making direct physical contact with other mechanisms, especially beta castes. _Especially beta castes who crept up on me in my tunnels!_ And he was still looking at me in that – curious way! At that moment I thought furiously that I was a D'Ligier, and that I was part D'Luminiere, and that this was _my_ island and _my _tunnels, and that he really had no business being there. I said "would you mind explaining why you are in an area of Celestine Island which is strictly out of bounds for visitors!" The fact that it was strictly out of bounds for me as well was neither here nor there.

If I'd been trying to sound officious and intimidating, it did not have that effect. The mech laughed softly, the sound echoing melodiously off the tunnel walls. Giving me one final look, he turned away, but then turned back, propping himself casually up against the tunnel wall with one hand. "My creator knows your creators," he explained. "He's in real estate. He's been doing an assessment of this place. He told me to figure out a way of getting into these tunnels cos he was afraid they'd been left out of the valuation .... so I did!" I thought of the conversation in Niacis. It was, I supposed, an explanation. But this _creator_ of his – whoever he was – had no right to be telling him he could just come down here like this! Apart from anything else, I felt a stab of alarm that not far away was the illegal crystal collection, well hidden, but most certainly something I did not want strangers to be wandering past.

He continued on, in a thoroughly laid back way. "One of my creators comes from the Pinnacles, so I guess that makes me kind of half Alpha....," one of the crab bots started to negotiate its way over his left foot. He looked down and, crouching, picked it up, studying it carefully. "...The other one's from Iacon - Smokerun, his name is ....," looking up at me, he went on, "he works in Sky City. He's pretty good friends with Swift D'Ligier. Swift wants to sell this place, although your other creator doesn't and I guess it's up to her really. But she sure was pleased with the valuation ..." his attention returned to the creature in his hand.

He seemed to know an inordinate amount about my family, and to have no shame about spouting to me about it, and my annoyance increased.

"How do you know all this?" I demanded, aware that I must have looked very uptight, standing there in the glaring light in the middle of the tunnel whilst he crouched in the shadows, casually examining the crab bot like that. It creaked and cracked in his hand. I stole a glance around. In the absence of my attention, the others had abandoned their racecourse and were creeping slowly in various directions on the tunnel floor. I did a quick count of them. They were all still there, but I cursed himfor making so much trouble.

"Like I said, they're all old friends ...," he was saying, still, apparently, completely unperturbed. He put the crab bot down and stood up, looking around the tunnel floor and taking an interest in the others. "... on the South Shore, which is where I come from – you know, next to the Southern Ocean – we families are all pretty open about everything ..." He moved away from the wall and, crouching down again, started to study another of my charges closely, a rather splendid orangy coloured specimin with black spots that I'd named "Goldie." He smiled to himself and looked up: "How come you're not at college or anything?"

It was absolutely none of his business! I said "If you must know, my creators are currently in discussions about my future!" and immediately regretted it, because why should I tell him stuff like that? I mean, I didn't even know him! I cast around the floor again and noticed that one of my charges was about to exit down a hole on the far wall. I dived after it and returned it to the racecourse.

I was aware of him smiling again, returning his attention to the crab bot. That infuriatingly disarming smile! And his whole manner was – well somehow you couldn't help warming to it, even though he was being so annoying_. Even though he shouldn't even be there._ "Say!" he was saying, picking up "Goldie" now and holding it upside down. "you should come to college in Iacon!" Goldie's jointed legs flailed uselessly in midair. He moved it around, studying it.

"We Alphas of the Towers don't leave the Towers at my age," I said haughtily. "And _leave that alone_!" Appealing or not it was time, I decided, to really assert some authority. I reached across and plucked "Goldie" out of his hand and set it down with the other previous excapees.

He stood up, looking around at the others which were still in progress across the tunnel floor. Another was about to round the bend in the tunnel which led away from the entrance and further under the island. Glaring at him, I retrieved it. "If you don't mind," I said, "I've got a job to do here!"

But he wasn't going, and he was crouched down looking at Goldie again. "How much credit allowance does Swift give you?" he asked softly.

The nerve of it! He just couldn't take a hint, could he? "A reasonable amount!" I snapped, knowing full well that this was nonsense, because my creators didn't give me any allowance at all and didn't think they should have to. Chimera had sort of agreed to it but Swift was not having it. They had argued about it. "_By Primus, he gets quite enough around here not to require additional sustenance. What do you all think I am – a bank"? Either he's having a traditional upbringing or he isn't!"_

Smokescreen looked at me in a knowing sort of a way, and suddenly a mischievous look came over him. He stood up again. "Say, I could get you some _supplementary income,_ Mirage! These crab bots. How much would you part with them for?"

I was astounded. I mean - I'd never thought about them in that way. They were a hobby – a means of wiling away the time whilst Moonshine couldn't be with me and entertaining myself on the island. _And his suggestion_. It was unheard of! I thought of Swift and Chimera's faces if I said "yes" and they were to find out. _Or was it?_ Now when I thought about it, neither of my Creators had never actually _said_ that I couldn't have my own credits; they had only said that _they_ were not going to give them to me.

I found myself saying "Er - I'm not sure what the going rate is. What did you have in mind?"

He beamed "Well now, what if I were to give you ...," he considered for a moment "... seventy credits a piece? On an ongoing basis, of course."

I had no idea how much that was, but it sounded like a staggering amount! And, suddenly, I wasn't nearly so cross with Smokescreen because all sorts of ideas were streaming through my processor. I thought - _weren't Alphas these days supposed to be the leaders of enterprise on Cybertron?_ I thought of the snooty femmes and their bragging about their bondmates businesses interests and their putting down of Swift for not having them and I thought _if I start up a crab bot business and it makes millions then they'll never be able to have a shot at the D'Ligiers ..._

Besides, given Chimera's current frame of mind, she seemed less and less interested in me and I was sure it would not be long before I could go to Niacis alone. What fun it would be to have credits of my own to spend! On proper, meaningful things. Instead of having to forever watch the silly femmes spend theirs on useless trinkets and trash. I had a sudden vision of myself striding through Niacis with a superb paint job and down the jetty and getting into a private jet boat like Swift's which was moored there especially for me, and roaring off across the Lake like he did. And everyone would say how amazingly poised I was for a sparkling of my age that I could make my own credits and get a boat like that ....

Above all, that rebellious streak rose up again and I thought of how proud of me Moon would be of me about this and I found myself saying - whilst trying to make it look as though I was giving it careful consideration - "Very well!"

"Hey!" He beamed, and clapped me on the shoulder. "Sweet!" He held out his hand again. For a second time I shook it, not letting go quite so soon this time. I felt the same tingling sensation and sense of excitement that I always felt when embarking on something I shouldn't, but more so than ever before. My own credits! It just felt so amazingly - _powerful_.

But I was curious about my pets. After all, I had developed a certain fondness for some of them. Not that this should stand in the way of the credits, but I felt compelled to ask: "what are you going to do with the 'bots?"

He was back engrossed in the various individuals and had placed a couple so as they had to negotiate their way over a large rock. He looked up "eh? Oh ..." he returned to his study of them "Well I watched how you had them racing. You see, I've got this friend that ... well he's good at making money out of stuff like this and... oh, never mind! You don't have to worry about any of that!"

I said: "well, let me show you how they can race over objects."

"Sure!" he said

And, we spent the next half cycle engrossed in the mechanics of crab bot racing, whilst he chatted about the South Shore and I – only half listening - contemplated my great future as an entrepreneur, and thinking that whatever his intentions were, it didn't really matter.

.....................

A little later I was sitting on my favourite viewing platform at the top of the Sun Tower watching the white sun as it lowered itself into the Southern ocean, a shimmering sheen in the distance being all that marked the presence of the water there. In between, Iacon was coming alight, the tall buildings slowly illuminating, the great dome shining out conspicuously. The distant hum of the immense volume of traffic which traversed the expressways wafted across in the twilight. Some distance closer a row of glowing lilac marked the edge of the scarp where Iyili falls began and I could hear the ever present distant low roar as the water crashed down the scarp to where the river started its journey across the city.

To my left the Palace stood out in all its glory, behind a forest of other towers, the lights on the string of bridges which linked them coming alive and blending with the subtle colours of the lake lights. The moon of Itopis was rising over it to the east within a deep purple sky. As usual, the sweet smell of tailings was everywhere, and I thought how wonderful this was, and how no matter what happened in life, I would always want to be here.

The issue right now was, however, what to do with the credits. How to spend them in such a way that Swift and Chimera didn't know I'd spent them; for, despite my earlier reasonings, I still thought it best to keep quiet about the credits. After all, I didn't want Swift taking them off me, or putting

them in one of those banks, or something. And there would be quite a few credits. Smokescreen had agreed to pick up twenty crab bots at the start of the next dark cycle. I was to sneak a box of them out to a hiding place in a hole in the cliffs not far from the jetty, and he would get them from there and leave the money. It seemed a good enough plan.

Except that – well, would he actually do it? I couldn't help it, there was a doubt in my processor. I realised I knew very little about this half Alpha Caste from the south shore, except that his creators were friends with mine. If he did it, would he leave the money? _What if he didn't._ What if I got – what was the phrase I'd heard Swift used – _ripped off_? I looked across to the lights of Iacon. Immediately ahead, and too low to ruin the view, was a house whose former occupants were said to have had _ripped off_ Opaque D'Luminiere and his creator Phantasm. It was well known that the occupants weren't there any more and that nobody had been maintaining the garden. Nobody was sure where they had gone, but there was said to be a clear connection between their departure and their previous conduct. Well, that settled it, I thought. I wouldn't get ripped off. It was well known that in the Towers nobody put up with that sort of thing.

Nevertheless, as I thought about it, I realised I had a sudden really strong desire to sneak down there and just see if he turned up. In fact, the more I thought about it, the more I really wished I could do so. And then something else happened – something rather strange. The itch in my shoulder came on again, stronger than ever, almost as though it had something to do with this need to sneak down and watch Smokescreen. And I thought back to the tunnel earlier in the day and I realised then that it wasn't the first time I'd had that itch – that I'd had it before, and always when there was a desire or a need to - _not be seen_.

There was something about this. Something really important, something more amazing, even, than having my own credits. I searched my databanks for anything, anything which could throw a light on this. But there was nothing, and yet ...

That was it! My thoughts suddenly thought back to what Chimera had said that day in the library _" if Mirage has the ability_ ..."and then suddenly there was more than that and I recalled something I had read in the library. A long time ago. Something which had been interesting at the time although I hadn't really given it further thought, until the conversation between Chimera and Swift. This cycle had been so incredible so far, and this ...

... Something told me this would be the best of all .....

I got up from my seat on the viewing platform and I left the lights behind and I went away down to the library.

.......

The library was in darkness. Chimera was not around, and I imagined she was once again up in her wing of the house. With a voice command, I activated the lights. A myriad of little white globes set into the high archways sprang to life, illuminating the grey stone, the antique platinum furniture, the elaborate mosaic floor and the portraits of various D'Luminiere and D'Ligier ancestors and views of the Towers which festooned the walls. In the centre was the electronic data retrieval terminal, surrounded by elegant chairs. Thick curtains lay across the large bay window under which Moon and I had secreted ourselves that day.

I did not know a great deal about the library. As an Alpha sparkling, I knew how to read and decipher information and to communicate to a level which might more or less be expected of an Alpha of my age. But as to any more advanced meaning of that information and its uses – well, that was the subject matter of our further education. And that was what I hadn't yet had. So, at that time in my life, a lot of the contents of the library made no sense to me whatsoever. On the other hand, basic texts were well within my grasp.

I especially knew how to look up things about the family, because Chimera considered that of great importance and had made sure very early on that Moon and I were able to do it. A lot of the data consisted of pictures anyway, so Moon and I had often contented ourselves with looking at these, and with giggling at pictures of the _Prima D'Luminiere_ and of our ancestors, whose names we had used when we played out our fantasies from the Sun Tower of ruling Cybertron. One databank in particular stuck in my memory banks. I now identified its location from the electronic data pool and ordered the automated shelf organiser to retrieve the hard copy and place it on the large chair over by the window. It was a volume entitled "_A history of the Towers: Protection of the Ultra Uno De Luminiere; special functions of the Guardians' Elites_."

I soon found what I was looking for. I read from the datapad:

_The Guardian Elite were a special unit of Transforming Cybertronians whose sole function was to protect the Ultra Uno. They were always male, and almost exclusively drawn from two families. D'Ligier and De Lorien, whose decendants still reside in the Towers ._...

Then there were a series of images of the _Ultra Uno _and of what were obviously my ancestors, in that they looked like Swift and me and those De Loriens I was acquainted with. I read on:

_The Guardians Elites were characterised by special programming which was transferred through generations via the replication process. This programming allowed them to perform certain special abilities vital to the protection of their charges, which varied in nature .._...

I remembered this now. Remembered that when I'd first read it Moon hadn't found it very interesting at all, but I'd found it fascinating.

_Some had superior strength or speed or accelerated thought processes. Others could, variously, move through hyperspace to a different destination effortlessly and in an instant, (a process which was known as teleportation), create protective force fields, generate holographic illusions and – perhaps the most effective of all – deploy techniques to bend light waves, resulting in invisibility or a complete alteration in appearance ..._

I realised that my energon pump was thumping quite loudly, and I was tingling, and I sensed that I was on the edge of discovery. It was as though the ancestors in the datapad reached out from beyond the grave and I was about to become one with them. The D'Ligiers had been crucial to the workings of Cybertron! And so they still would be! I just knew it. The power of being able to do one of those things . That would be just incredible. And with that and credits ....

_This latter ability was almost entirely the domain of the D'Ligiers. _

And, better still:

_The techniques of invisibility and shape shifting were made possible by the use of unique device which was attached to a special port on the user's left shoulder._

"Yes!" I almost jumped for joy. I felt my shoulder and now I could feel there was a small indentation there. A surge of excitement swept through all of my systems. Now, I thought, you put it all together, _it made sense_! And now I felt better than I remembered feeling almost in my entire existence. My own credits, and my important family, and this special talent as well! It didn't matter that I had no idea how to do it, I was going, somehow, to do it; and I was going to get lots of credits, and be rich, and live in this house and entertain everybody with an air of great mystery and an amazing capacity to disappear into thin air which would be the wonder of all of Cybertron. I only wished Moon were here so I could tell her about it.

And nobody would ever act superior to the D'Ligiers again.

"What in the name of Primus are you doing in here, Mirage!" I nearly leapt out of my exoskeleton. It was Chimera. I had been so engrossed in my thoughts that I had been completely oblivious to everything else. But it wasn't just her sudden appearance that gave me such a start. It was her, generally, because she looked – well, _awful_, frankly. In the artificial lights of the library, her face was thinner than ever and she seemed deathly pale. The blue and grey paint scheme was still there but it looked – well, more grey than blue. She seemed frail, suddenly, and very tired. Not at all the way she did when we went down to Niacis. I remember I felt puzzled as to how there could be such a change. Nevertheless, I was pleased by her arrival. I could tell he all about my discoveries, and she would be happy as she could prove to Swift that she was right about _the ability_.

So, of course, I got up eagerly and proceeded to show her the datapad, describing the itch and the feelings associated with the itch – omitting, of course, any reference to Smokescreen and the crab bots.

"And here.."I said finally. "I've got the shoulder port to prove it!

Chimera sighed, and a great heaviness seemed to come over her. "Mirage, don't get your hopes up about all of this ..." She sat down on the chair opposite. An aroma of premium mixed with tailings was suddenly in the air. She looked at me with her pale face. "That's a closed port," she said, "like an echo of something from the past, but not anything you can use now ..."

And then before my systems could register the intense dismay associated with this statement, she sighed again. "Swift was here earlier. You know ... I really think perhaps we should give Newling College some serious consideration. It makes sense. You could become a lawspeaker like him, or work for the government.... "then she added in a whisper: "I know we argue, but at the end of the day, he generally knows best...."

I just could not believe what my audials were registering in my processor. This was just such a complete turnaround to – well – what she had said previously. A amazingly strong sense of disappointment descended. I can honestly say that it felt as though I had suddenly been offered the universe, only to have it plucked away. At the same time again resentment flooded my mood indicators, a resentment that I had, in my mind, championed her cause – _and_ Swift's - before the D'Luminieres and now they had let me down like this. That may not have been logical, but it was how I felt; and I was suddenly tired, and completely deflated, and I wished my sister was there.

Chimera was not looking at me, and seemed lost in her own thoughts. I turned from her and, still clutching the datapad, made my way slowly from the library and back up to my berth in the Sun Tower, where I lay down, cloaked in dismay, and drifted into recharge.

Yet, all was not lost; I was not done yet. It is this refusal within me to back down and accept defeat and a stubborn determination to see matters through to the bitter end, you see, which has been both my downfall in life and yet, paradoxically, the reason I have survived.

My last conscious thoughts before I went offline were that I was not through with looking into this matter yet.

And, besides which: _I would still have the credits_!

..................

_For some reason I thought of Smokescreen as having an Irish accent in that! Am I weird?_


End file.
